Different War
by Slayer87
Summary: Set after Not Fade Away. Angel and his team are fighting hell's army in that alley when someone unexpected comes and gives them a hand. It's then they realize that their battle is only just beginning and they have no idea what to expect. Buffy x-over.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Different War**

**Author: Slayer87**

**Rating: TV-14 (same as episodes)**

**Spoilers: Post Chosen/Not Fade Away**

**Disclaimer: Joss Whedon/David Greenwalt own all. 20****th**** Century Fox and Mutant Enemy as well own characters and plots that are not mine. I only own the original characters.**

**Author's Notes: One thing I want to say is I'm writing this story with script directions. That's just how I chose to write this story. Everything else is in prose (story) mode. Also, this was originally going to be an "Angel season 6" series with individual episodes and acts. Hence the script directions. That's not going to be the case now. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy.**

**Fade In:  
Ext.  
The Battle….**

The air seemed to crack when the two sides met in the middle of the alley. Angel, already bloodied and hurt, but filled with the power of the Wolf, Ram, and Hart, made his way past demon after demon. His sword clanked and clashed with the few weapons of the demons, but equally found their way into flesh and bone.

Spike was doing as much damage as Angel was. His whole sodding body ached, but he fought on, determined not to die. He grabbed the head of a demon species he didn't know, and didn't care to know, and twisted with his hands. The demon sank to the ground and Spike smirked. This wasn't too bad.

Gunn felt like he was going to fall any second. He slashed away with his axe; demon heads rolling left and right, but his wound was hurting him far too much. The blood loss made him want to pass out, but he kept slashing, even when the claws of a vampire cut him good across the arm.

Illyria scoffed at the weakness of her enemies. They broke far too easy and she smiled at the damage she had done thus far. She tore off the head of a vampire, watched as it turned to dust in her very hand and immediately landed a kick to the head of a slime demon. This was all too effortless for her. She felt sick with how sad the demons of this world fought. She would show them what fighting was.

The demons, in their number, started to dwindle down. Spike slammed his stake through the heart of a vampire, not even bothering to watch it dust. He heard a shriek like no other, and turned toward the noise. There was Angel, piercing the heart of the dragon with his sword. Spike sighed. He had wanted a go at the beast, but Angel took that away from him. It figured.

Suddenly, there was a great light and boom. Almost all of the demons cried out, with what sounded like fear and anger, and fled the alley down the way they came.

"Yeah, that's right. Run off," Spike taunted after the fleeting evil. "Finally realize when you have had enough of Big Bad eh?"

"Spike, shut up," Angel yelled at the bleach haired vampire, looking around.

Spike silenced, only because he had nothing else to say, and looked around. He saw Illyria standing next to Gunn, who was sitting against a dumpster. He didn't look good. Spike noted that they needed to get Gunn inside somewhere, preferably a hospital.

"The dark one weakens rapidly," Illyria noted aloud, hoping that one of the two vampires would hear her.

"I know, I know. But we first need to figure out what scared off the army of hell in the first place," Angel said, looking around.

"Yeah, there was a white light. I saw it too," Spike added, looking behind them. What he saw made his jaw drop open.

There, standing there as plain as day and soaking wet was Tara Maclay. Her soft brown hair stuck to her face from the rain and she looked around, shaking from the cold.

**Fade Out**

**Fade In  
Ext.  
Alley**

"Tara?" Spike asked, stepping closer to the woman. Tara automatically stepped back, unsure. "S'alright love. It's me, Spike."

"Wait, Tara? Willow's Tara?" Angel asked. Spike nodded, not taking his eyes off the woman.

"I sense power from this one," Illyria observed.

"Yeah, she's pretty good with the Wicca mojo," Spike replied.

"Spike, it's impossible. I know what happened, this can't be her," Angel said.

"Oh it's her. Down to her scent," Spike replied. He took off his coat and went to put it over her.

"Look, we need to get inside somewhere. Gunn's hurt, and those demons might come back. We can figure out who's who later," Angel urged, looking towards where the demons ran off.

"Right," Spike agreed, putting an arm over the trembling witch. "Time to go now love. Get you some place dry and safe 'right?"

Tara nodded and let herself be led by the English vampire.

Gunn tried to pick himself up, but all his strength was already gone. He looked up at Illyria, who in turn was staring down at him in, what he thought was, fascination. "Little help?"

Illyria gazed at him with her piercing blue eyes before reaching out and hoisting him up with one hand. Gunn winced at the pain that shot along his abdomen and clutched at his stomach tightly.

"I am relieved you did not die. You have surpassed my expectations of you," Illyria told him. Gunn tried to smirk at her compliment.

"Thanks, I guess. You did alright yourself," he replied.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel – Minutes Later**

Angel opened the two glass doors facing the back garden and looked around. No one was in sight, and he didn't sense anyone, human at least, in the building. He motioned to Spike, who was helping Tara, and the rest of the group walked inside.

Going to the wall, Angel flipped on the lights to the lobby and the hotel lit up. He turned around to see Illyria helping Gunn sit down on the red couch and then he remembered the bad shape that Gunn was in. He walked behind the front counter and took out the first aid kit.

"Spike, bandage Gunn up," Angel told the other vampire. Spike gave him a look.

"Does it look like I know how to bandage someone up? I'm usually the one getting stitched up, not the other way around."

"Spike! Just do it," Angel snapped, shoving the tin box at Spike.

"What the hell burrowed up your ass?" Spike asked, opening the box and going to where Gunn was laying on the red couch.

Angel paced quickly, stopped, and sighed. "We are in a real fix here Spike, in case you didn't notice. The Senior Partners are probably real keen in finding us and sending their army of hell after us, which by the way, is more than enough demons to do the trick. All of which, are still in this city looking for us. I have two friends out there, both of which I will never see again, one of them at least. Top it off with the fact that we have someone here who isn't even supposed to be alive, and you can see why I'm a little upset right now."

"The demons are no longer a threat. They have vanquished from this worldly plane," Illyria announced. She was glancing at the hotel surroundings, not even bothering to look at Angel.

Angel looked at her. "How would you know that?"

"Its gotta be true. I mean, she is a former god king of the world right? We know she still has powers. Reckon that's one of 'em," Spike said. He was wrapping large strips of gauze over Gunn's wound, which had miraculously stopped bleeding.

"Spike is right Angel, I think Illyria has a sense of her enemies. She probably could sense anyone in this whole world if she wanted to," Gunn added.

Angel looked over at Tara, who had thus far been completely silent. He watched her eyes dart around at everything. He could hear the shakiness of her breath as well. "Tara?"

Spike gazed over at the witch too. "Tara, love?"

Tara glanced at Spike and lowered her head so she was staring at the ground.

Angel walked over to her and put a hand on her arm. Tara automatically backed up. "Tara? I'm Angel. We've never met, but I've heard about you from Willow."

At the sound of Willow's name, Tara glanced up. "Willow?" she repeated back, her voice soft. Angel knew that without his good hearing, he would have never heard it.

"Yes. I know Willow. And Buffy, and Xander, and Dawn. I know all of them. So you see, I don't want to hurt you. We're here to help. Me, Spike, everyone," Angel went on.

Tara looked from Angel, to Spike, back to Angel again and nodded.

"Okay, to help you we need to know some things. How did you get here? Do you remember anything?" Angel asked.

Tara shook her head. "No, I don't remember…. wait, I-I do. I think so."

By this time, Spike had put the bandages back in the first aid box and walked over to where Angel and Tara were standing. Gunn was now sitting up and watching everyone else. Illyria was wondering into the office, her head looking every which way.

"What do you remember love? It's okay, take your time a'right?" Spike told her. Tara looked at him and nodded.

"I was sent…they said everyone was needed. Then I was in the alley," Tara explained to them.

"Who's 'they'?" Gunn asked.

Angel looked to him. "The Powers. I think she was sent by the Powers That Be."

Spike nodded in agreement. "Reckon so. I mean, that's where I always figured she went. To the good place in the sky."

"What do you mean everyone was needed?" Angel asked her.

"I don't know," Tara replied. Angel smiled at her, to ease her fears, and looked over at Spike.

"Who knows what's going to happen next. All I know is that this woman here had to be brought by something pretty powerful and good to drive away all those demons like that. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next," Spike said.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Cyvus Vail's Home – Same Time**

The entire room was silent. The lights still dim. The only ones in the grim chamber was the body of Cyvus Vail, whose head was merely dust and broken bits of bone lying on the floor.

The other body, not ten feet away, was the still body of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, lying in a pool of his own blood. His eyes were still open, staring blankly at the ceiling. The wound on his stomach no longer bled. Just sat, holding a small amount of blood that wasn't pumped out and onto the floor.

Slowly, almost absurdly, the blood still in the wound slowly went back inside, as if it was being sucked back in. The blood vessels mended and all the organs closed up as if they had never been torn. Muscle tissue was magically restored and the flesh mended and closed up, not even leaving a scar. There was a soft wind-like noise and Wesley, thought dead, breathed in oxygen once again.

When his brain had the air it needed, his fingers, sticky from his own blood, moved. His eyes fluttered and he immediately winced and closed them from the small amount of light that reached his eyes. When he finally got used to the light, he stared at the ceiling. The smell of death reached his nose and he already felt sick. He groaned and did his best to sit up. But before he did, he realized he was under no pain. He remembered Cyvus stabbing him, the blood, and the unbearable pain. Fred…no, it was Illyria. Lying to him, just as she asked him and he let her. He accepted the lie. Fred was gone.

But now he felt no pain at all. He felt for the wound, but it was gone. Not even a scar. The only proof he had been stabbed to death was the pool of blood he was still lying in and the torn shirt. He saw the body of Cyvus and figured Illyria took care of him. He was grateful for it.

Slowly, he got up and looked around. His mind reeled over the fact that he was alive when he should have and was dead. He wondered how and, most importantly, why he was alive and well. Angel's last speech at Spike's earlier came back to him and the words "alley behind the Hyperion" replayed in his head. He moved over to the wall and grabbed two swords, like the one that killed him. He checked his coat to make sure he still had his pistol before leaving.

He needed to get to the alley as soon as possible.

**Fade In  
Int.  
Rome, Italy**

The phone ringing was the only sound in the small Italian apartment. A door opened in the background and Dawn Summers emerged from the room, sprinting toward the ringing phone. She caught it after the 5th ring.

"Ciao," the young woman answered in loose Italian. Even though she had been there a few months, Italian was still a tricky language. That was weird, she thought, since she mastered Sumerian so quickly.

**Cut To  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles – Same Time**

Angel was surprised to hear the voice of the youngest Summers woman. He paused for a moment, before answering.

"Dawn? Hey its Angel," he said. He hoped she didn't hold anything against him for running Wolfram and Hart. His mind went back to his last phone call with Giles.

**Cut To  
Int.  
Summers' Apartment, Rome**

"Hey Angel. Wow, it's been a long time. How are you?" Dawn replied, holding the cordless phone between her shoulder and her ear as she played with the string on her jacket.

She looked over and nodded to Buffy, who was standing with her arms folded over her chest.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

Angel paced his former office and sighed. He could hear Spike talking with Gunn in the lobby.

"I'm okay, right now at least. Listen Dawn, I need to talk to your sister. It's kinda urgent." He was unsure whether to say that Tara was alive again. He knew from Buffy that Dawn and Tara were really close.

"Yeah, I can hold a sec," he repeated. He thought this was going to be a repeat from his conversation with Giles when he heard the phone being handed over and the greatest voice to him spoke over the phone.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Summers' Apartment, Rome**

"Angel," was all Buffy said. She looked over at Dawn sitting on the couch and hanging off that one word. Buffy rolled her eyes and turned around.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

"Buffy. Hi, its…uh, good to hear from you again," Angel started, already lost for words. He took another un-needed breath and continued. "Look, something's happened. Uh, maybe you should sit down. Its, uh, a long story."

He could hear Dawn asking what was being said, and Buffy shushing her. He had to smile and sat down behind the wooden desk.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Summers' Apartment, Rome **

"Sit down? Am I going to be scared here Angel? Is it apocalypse-y or did you just need help with another psycho slayer? 'Cause may I remind you that you now work for the biggest evil in the world?" Buffy asked, getting a glare from Dawn. She softened up, remembering that only Giles and Xander were skeptical over Angel's latest job.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

Angel frowned at the mention of him working for Wolfram and Hart and kicked himself mentally. Of course she had no reason to trust him. Hell, over a year ago, he would have done the same if it was her who took over that place. But this was no time to argue about the different shades of gray and focus on what was happening now. His mind was still reeling over the fact that Wesley was dead, he was never going to see Lorne again because he had Lorne shoot Lindsey for him. He wouldn't blame Lorne if he hated him right now. Asking someone to kill is never easy.

"I'm serious. Its bad right now. But that wasn't the main reason for calling you. See…we got paid a visit by someone tonight that was unexpected. Hell, it was near impossible.

"See…wait, there's something else you should know first. I think it would be better if he told you himself," Angel said, getting up and walking to the office door so he could see everyone in the lobby.

He tapped the door frame to get their attention and motioned for Spike. The blonde haired vampire stalked over to Angel and silently asked what.

"Its Buffy. Before I start explaining things, you need to tell her," Angel mumbled. Spike scoffed and sighed. He took the phone from Angel and sighed again.

"Hello Buffy," Spike said, awaiting the response.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Summers' Apartment, Rome**

Buffy stared at the floor for a long minute. This was unreal. Her heart was pacing faster and she didn't remember how to breathe. "Spike?"

At this name, Dawn's eyes widened and she gasped. She stood up from the couch and walked over to face her sister. "Spike?" she repeated.

"How? What? You're alive?" Buffy asked, ignoring Dawn.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

Spike smiled at the sound of her voice. He heard Dawn in the background and smiled wider. He had missed the nibblet.

"Yeah, It's me love. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner….no, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how'd you react. No, I didn't want to keep it secret. It wasn't my choice! I came back in that amulet thing _you_ gave me and I appeared at Wolfram and Hart. I've been pestering Angel all this time. Yeah, he's been annoyed," he told her.

Angel rolled his eyes and motioned for Spike to go on.

"Uh, so I thought you should know is all. I hope you're not, uh, mad," Spike continued.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Summers Apartment, Rome**

"Mad?" Buffy repeated. Her mind was racing. _'Mad?' _she thought, _'How can he think I'm not mad?'_

"Hold on a second, love," she was told. She could hear him and Angel arguing over who would talk and she couldn't help but laugh to herself.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

"Spike, give me the phone. You said what you needed to say," Angel yelled. Spike didn't hand it over though.

"Not finished yet Angel. I will let you know when I'm done. Now why don't you go in the corner and brood for a bit yeah?" Spike said, gripping the phone to his chest.

Angel rushed at Spike, trying to grab the phone out of the younger vampire's hands. Spike kicked Angel in the knee, but Angel sucker punched Spike, and got possession of the phone.

"Sorry about that. Spike is just…so I'm sure you're shocked already," Angel said. He heard her sigh over the phone.

"Angel," he heard her say. "Just tell me what is going on."

"Alright, you know I've been head of Wolfram and Hart this year right?" he asked.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Summer's Apartment, Rome**

"Yeah, how's that going by the way? Wait," Buffy asked, sarcastically, "this is Angel right? Not Angelus?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Dawn rolling her eyes.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

"Look, I'm not going to explain to you why I took that job. I already got the icy tone from Giles…and hell, even from your friend Andrew. I'm just going to tell you what went down because it's big enough to wipe us all out," Angel told her, looking over at Spike and shaking his head.

Angel sat down in the chair behind the desk and took an un-necessary deep breath.

"Okay, here's the story…"

**Fade In:  
Int.  
Shahrvin Lair, Los Angeles – Minutes Later**

There's a quick shot of a door opening and a battered looking Eve walks into the room. Her eyes dart around, looking at all the dead Shahrvin demons.

If anyone had known she was inside the Wolfram and Hart building right before it collapsed and that she only escaped with some scratches and a sprained wrist, they would have never believed it. But she did, and she had somehow managed to get to this building. She knew this was where Lorne and Lindsey were supposed to fight together. But all that was left were some dead demons. No Pylean in sight.

She walked further into the room and gasped. There, on the floor to her right, lay Lindsey. There was blood splattered on the wall above where he sat. There were two small bullet holes in his chest, and a blank but angry expression still etched on his face.

"Lindsey!" Eve cried out, rushing to him. She knew he was dead, but she still automatically felt for a pulse. When she didn't get one, her hands went up and she buried her face in them.

She was livid. How dare Angel take Lindsey away from her. HE didn't trust Lindsey, so he had him shot by Lorne and he still had the nerve to think he was still the big hero. She then wondered if the Senior Partners were happy. They had wanted Lindsey dead as well. She wished she was dead too. It would have been better than being left here alone.

The sudden choking and gasping interrupted her out of her self-misery and she looked up. Lindsey was alive. She didn't know how or who gave him back to her, but she was grateful either way. She threw her arms around his neck and embraced him.

"Oh god, you were dead. Lindsey, you died," she choked out, tears spilling down her face.

Lindsey hugged her back, but then struggled to get back up. "How long?" he asked.

"What?" Eve asked, suddenly transfixed on the two bullet holes that were no longer there. "Lindsey…" she said, pointing to his chest. Lindsey looked down quickly but seemed to shrug it off.

"How long has it been Eve? Since Angel left Wolfram and Hart?" he asked her.

"Uh, I don't know. A couple hours?" she replied. "Look, maybe you should sit down."

Lindsey ignored her and walked over to where the gun laid on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and studied it.

"Lindsey?" she said, cautious of what he might do.

He turned to look at her. "Go."

Eve blinked and shook her head. "What?"

"Go," he said. "I have things to do, scores to settle. I don't want you in that. Go somewhere out of LA. I'll come for you when I'm done here."

Eve hesitated a minute, but moved past Lindsey and out of the room.

"I got me a vampire to kill," Lindsey said, almost smiling at the thought of it.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Different War

**Title: Different War**

**Author: Slayer87**

**Rating: TV-14 (same as episodes)**

**Spoilers: Post Chosen/Not Fade Away**

**Disclaimer: Joss Whedon/David Greenwalt own all. 20****th**** Century Fox and Mutant Enemy as well own characters and plots that are not mine. I only own the original characters.**

**Author's Notes: The first "chapter" was too long to put into one so here is the next part. Think of it as the second half.**

**Fade In:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

"And so now me and mine are sitting in our hotel wondering what the hell we're gonna do next," Angel finished. There was some silence at the other end. "Buffy?"

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Summer's Apartment, Rome**

Buffy sat down on the couch and ran a hand through her blonde hair. She looked over at her sister, who was looking back at her for answers, and she sighed.

Her mind was spun over all the things. Spike was alive. Cordelia and Wesley were dead, as was this Fred, whom she had briefly met last summer. On top of that, Angel told her that Tara was there too, alive and well. She had seen a lot of bizarre things in her time as a slayer, but this was mind blowing.

"I'm on my way. Just stay at the hotel," was all she finally said, then hung up the phone.

"Dawn, pack a bag of things you'll need. Hurry, we have to get to the airport," she ordered, rushing to her own room.

Dawn followed her, very confused. "Wait, what is going on? Where are we going? What did Angel say?"

"We're going to LA. Now hurry, I still have to call Willow," Buffy replied, shoving clothes into a suitcase.

"Is something bad happening there?" Dawn asked.

"I'll explain on the way there. Just go pack."

Dawn nodded and walked out of her sister's room. Buffy picked up the phone and dialed Willow's cell phone number.

"Will? Hey. Look, there's something…uh, feel like going to LA?"

**Cut to:  
Ext.  
Alley, Los Angeles**

Wesley was amazed at the sight before him. Hundreds of demons lay dead in the long, narrow alleyway. Even though it was dark, and still slightly raining, he could see all the blood and dust on the ground. He began to wonder if his friends actually made it out alive.

He realized they must have, since if they died, well if Gunn and Illyria had died, their bodies would be here. And there were no weapons lying around. So now he had to figure out where to go. A thought formed in his mind and he looked over at the hotel.

**Cut to:  
Ext.  
Hyperion Garden, Los Angeles – Seconds Later**

Wesley stepped through the gate that led from the alley to the garden. He saw light coming from inside and his heart raced. Someone was in there and he knew it had to be his friends.

He walked up the few steps and peered into the lobby through the semi glass doors. There was Spike and Gunn talking. He didn't see Angel or Illyria, but he had a feeling they were alive too. He also saw a woman, who looked slightly familiar.

He opened the door, not knowing what to expect. He didn't know if they knew he died, but he wasn't gonna exactly tell them if they didn't know. What mattered was that they deal with what was at hand.

Gunn looked up and saw Wesley. His mouth slightly dropped. Spike turned too to see what surprised Gunn so.

"Wes? You're-" Gunn said. Wesley figured Illyria told them and nodded.

"Alive? Yes. Don't ask how, I don't know," he finished.

Spike walked up to him. "Well you've still got a heartbeat. You're not a vampire."

Wesley looked over at the woman, who was sitting on the large gray poof in the middle of the lobby. "Who is that?" he asked.

"That's Tara. Uh, Willow's old love. She was dead too, but appeared in the alley and single handedly scared away the rest of the big nasties that were gonna kill us all," Spike explained.

Wesley took that in. "Where's Angel?"

"In the office. He's calling Buffy. I think he wants to get her to come to LA. This whole thing could get ugly. And what better help could we get than a slayer," Gunn replied, standing up and wincing slightly.

Wesley nodded. He took a seat on the red couch and looked around. "So what happened in the alley? Looks like hell out there."

Spike took a cigarette from his black duster and lit it, letting out a long drag of smoke. "Monsters came, we fought, kicked their asses. When Tara appeared, it scared the remaining ones gone, making them scamper off with their tails in between their legs. In fact, Big Blue said that they ran off of this plane," he said.

Wesley looked around. "And where is Illyria?"

"Exploring. You know her," Spike replied, looking at Tara, who was still sitting, looking around the hotel. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, chin up, 'right? You're okay now. I'm not gonna let any nasties come at you. Angel's in there calling up the Slayer. If Buffy comes here, I'm sure Red will be tagging along as well.

Tara looked up and him and nodded. Spike smiled at her and then turned back to Wesley and Gunn.

The door to the office opened and Angel emerged. When he saw Wesley, his features lightened and he smiled. "Wesley. Nice to see you again. Glad you aren't dead. I guess Illyria was wrong."

Wesley shook his head. "No, no. She was right. I was dead," he corrected. He pulled back his jacket to show Angel his bloody shirt.

Angel just nodded. "Still good to have you back," he said to Wesley, then turned to Spike and Gunn. "That's two. Wonder who else is gonna get sent."

"That would be me." The five all turned to look at the front doors, seeing Lindsey McDonald standing there, the gun firmly in his hand and pointed at Angel.

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Car, Rome**

Willow was speechless as she was told about the conversation with Angel. If she wasn't the one driving to the airport, she would have closed her eyes and prayed to the Goddess.

"A-Are you sure? I mean, Angel was sure it was her? I-It wasn't the First or something, you know, back for another round?" she asked.

Buffy nodded. "He was sure."

"And when exactly did Cordelia die? I-I can't believe it. It seemed like she was fine when I was last there. And now Wesley too? And Fred? Oh it's so horrible," Willow said, sadness very evident in her voice.

"I still can't believe Spike is back. All this time, we thought he was dead, but he was hanging out with Angel. Why didn't he call, come over here?" Dawn asked from the backseat.

Buffy shook her head. "I don't know Dawn. But it doesn't matter right now. We just need to get to LA before something even crazier happens."

"So, it's just us three? Didn't you call Xander and Giles?" Willow asked her friend.

"I couldn't reach Xander. Besides, Xand's never been an Angel fan so maybe it's good he's not coming. As for Giles, he was in a meeting with the remaining Council when I called. We don't have time to wait for him, so it's just us," Buffy explained.

Willow nodded and drove into the airport's parking structure. "We're here. Let's get there as fast as we can then."

**Cut to:  
Int.  
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles**

The lobby was quiet as Lindsey, still pointing the gun at Angel, walked down the steps.

"What's the matter Champ? You look a little shocked to see me. What? You didn't think I'd make it out alive?" Lindsey asked Angel, grinning.

Spike immediately went and stood in front of Tara. Gunn, still standing, looked over at Wesley, who nodded.

Lindsey saw the nod and pointed the gun at Wesley. He moved the gun to point slightly to the left of Wesley's head and fired, missing, but it was enough to prove his point. "You try something, I'll kill you."

Wesley raised his hands in defense. "You don't have to worry about me," he replied, calmly. Lindsey pointed the gun at Angel's head once more.

"Did dying make you incompetent? That's not going to kill me," Angel reminded him.

Lindsey nodded. "I know that. But it'll hurt like hell. And you know this better than anyone. What's the point if there's no pain?"

Angel saw the complete and utter seriousness in Lindsey's eyes. "I'll kill you before you can pull the trigger," he threatened.

Lindsey smirked. "I dunno. You still that fast? Age can slow a man down quite a bit. But if you do kill me, still better than being off'd by your flunky."

"Do yourself a favor Lindsey. I don't want to kill you right now okay. I don't have time. So put the gun down. I promise, we'll have our death fight someday. Right now, I have a lot more scarier things than you in my way," Angel said, glaring at Lindsey.

"Oh all right, anything for you Angel," Lindsey said, sarcasm present. "You think I'm just gonna walk away from this that easy?"

Angel moved quickly, grabbing the gun from Lindsey's hand and punching Lindsey in the jaw. Lindsey stumbled back, but didn't fall. Spike came up and made a move to kick Lindsey in the stomach. Lindsey grabbed Spike's foot before it made contact and pushed him back. Angel took the advantage of this and knocked Lindsey out with another blow to the head.

"Talk about wanting revenge. Lindsey here wants it in spades," Gunn said.

"Yeah, well he'll still want it when he wakes up. Gunn, Wes, put him in the cage downstairs. You don't need to tie him up. He won't be able to get that door open," Angel said. Wesley and Gunn nodded and walked over to pick Lindsey up.

Angel tossed the gun at Spike. "Get rid of this. I don't want it in my hotel."

Spike nodded. "Yes sir!" he said, with a roll of his eyes. He followed Wesley and Gunn down into the basement.

"I heard a loud noise. It bothered me," Illyria said from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, it was a gunshot. Nothing too dire," Angel replied, not even looking up at her.

"You were just in battle," Illyria noted. "I can smell the stench of it coming off you in waves. It sickens me."

Angel looked up at her as she came down the stairs. "Well, it wasn't the fight of my life. It was just a little thing. It was Lindsey," he told her.

"The mortal you ordered to be killed," Illyria noted.

Angel sighed. "Yeah, him. Gunn and Wes are locking him up."

Illyria's head shot up and she tilted it to the side. "You said Wesley. He's alive?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, he is. But look, don't go and do anything-"

Before he could finish, Illyria's head shot straight up and her body started to twitch. She cried out and fell to the floor. Angel went to go help her up, but she jerked up.

"Rash," Angel finished, breathless. There, sitting before him, was Fred. All traces of blue gone. She was even dressed in the clothes that she died in. Her soft brown eyes looking up at him, she blinked.

"Angel?" she asked. "Why am I alive?"

All Angel could do was stare, his eyes disbelieving what he saw.

**  
**  
"Illyri- I mean, Fred…how?" Angel asked, still unable to move. This wasn't Illyria, he knew that for sure. He could never sense any type of humanity in her. But now, now he not only could smell that it was indeed Fred, but there was also the unmistakable sound of her heart beating.

Fred slowly got up, looking around. Angel finally snapped out of his confusion and helped her. He looked over and saw that Tara was watching them, utter fascination and confusion etched on her soft face.

Angel heard Gunn and Wesley were coming back up from the basement. He was in-between panic and utter joy that Fred was back. What would they think though? He knew Spike would be able to tell, with his vampire senses.

"Alright, we got Lindsey locked in. That boy is going nowhere," Gunn said as he came around the corner. He and Wesley walked further into the lobby and when they saw Angel and Fred, both of them stopped dead in their tracks.

"Illyria," Wesley said, looking right at Fred. "It's a trick, she can do this…look like her."

Gunn looked at Wesley. "What? She can do that? How?"

"No, you guys. Wes, it's real. It's Fred," Angel tried to convince. Spike walked back from the basement and had a similar reaction as Wesley and Gunn.

"What in the bleedin' hell is going on?" he cursed. "Angel, is that?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, you can sense it too. Tell them that it is her. They won't believe me."

Wesley took a step forward. "Angel, what you're saying is impossible. Fred is gone. Remember what Sparrow said. Her soul is gone…destroyed. It's virtually impossible," he said.

Angel took a step towards Wesley. "Wesley, it might be hard, I know. But it is Fred. Her scent…Illyria didn't have that. And her heart is beating. She's alive."

Gunn walked over to Fred and touched her arm. "She's warm," he told them.

Fred looked at Gunn and tears started falling. "Charles," she said, then rushed to him and embraced him. The others watched.

"What triggered this? I mean, how did it happen?" Spike asked Angel. "She was Big Blue before she went upstairs.

"She came down and I told her Wesley was alive. Then she started shaking and boom. She was Fred," Angel explained.

Wesley frowned. "That's it? Just after hearing one thing, she came back? Doesn't make any sense."

Angel looked once at Fred, then turned back to Wesley. "Well obviously, from what I can tell, you were the trigger."

After Fred was done hugging Gunn, she slowly walked over to Wesley. "I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you. I'm so sorry Wesley."

Wesley shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. I'm the one who failed you. I should have saved you," he corrected her.

"Oh Wesley," she said, before pulling him into a hug.

Angel sighed. "I guess she's number four. The Powers, or something, are sending us back all our soldiers…well not Lindsey anyways. That makes me believe that something is coming. Something big," he said to the group. "Buffy is on her way already. I don't know who is coming with her, but I know it will be help."

"She's coming now?" Spike asked.

Angel nodded. "Look, we are going to have to put away any anger towards anyone alright. We have to work together on this or we'll all be dead. I know the Senior Partners aren't done with us yet. They're gonna be sending something a whole lot bigger at us and we have to be ready for it."

**Cut to:  
Ext.  
Downtown Los Angeles**

_**(Voice Over: Angel)**__ "We have to."_

There's a shot of a car speeding down a deserted Figueroa Street. The sound of a radio announcer is talking.

"It's 12:35 right now and for those of you in the Hollywood area, if you feel like skateboarding down Sunset Blvd, go for it. There is no one out there at this hour. Here's another 40 minutes of today's hits," was what came out of the radio.

Lorne turned the volume down. His head still hurt and he wasn't even paying attention to the road. It was a good thing the street was abandoned. It was like the people realized there was something bad happening that night and they stayed in their homes. _'Good for them,'_ he thought. He was in no mood to deal with anyone tonight so it was good no one was around. Also, there was the fact that he had seen twenty or so odd demons running about town. Not a good time to be out on the streets.

The light up ahead was red and so he decided to stop, since there were a couple cars crossing first. He looked out the window and saw a woman walking a block down. She was fairly young, no older than twenty-five. Her dark hair cloaked her face slightly, so he couldn't tell anything else about her. He wondered why she was crazy enough to be out right now. Didn't she know what was going on? He was about to honk the horn to see if she wanted a ride anywhere when something jumped onto the top of the car, scaring him half to death.

Lorne was just going to drive to shake the thing off, when two more appeared on both sides of the car. He'd seen this species of demon before, mostly in the demon haunts he would go to for information collecting. They were about ten feet tall, rust in color, and their deadliest features were the giant claws.

Lorne was prepared to be wiped out; there was no way he could fight all of these off himself. The demon on the roof punched its claw through the roof of the car, startling Lorne a great deal. Without warning, the entire roof came off and the demon threw it a good fifteen yards away.

"Where's a brooding vampire when you need one?" Lorne muttered to himself. The demon pulled his claw back, about to strike when a figure darted into it out of nowhere. Lorne watched as the demon was knocked to the street and he realized the figure was the girl he'd seen. She punched and kicked the demon, moving with a grace that Lorne had never seen on anyone before. She pulled out a small knife from the belt loop of her pants and slid it across the thing's throat. Blue blood came out from the wound and she dropped the demon. The other two looked at their slain ally and then to the mysterious girl. They both darted away; obviously knowing they couldn't win the fight.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked calmly. Lorne was looking at her with his jaw slightly open.

"You saved my life," he choked out. The girl looked at him once and then started to walk away. "Wait!" he called.

She stopped and looked back at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you need a place to go?" he asked. He didn't know why, but he felt he needed to keep her near him, for his sake and hers. "I mean, I have a safe place. My friends, they fight demons too. Well, bad demons anyways. If they got through the battle, they were gonna meet someplace."

The girl thought for a second, then nodded her head. "Yeah, okay."

Lorne sighed at the new state his car was in, but it was better than the demon killing him instead. He opened the passenger door and the girl got in. Now he really got a good look at her. Behind the long, wavy hair was a pair of deep chocolate eyes that seemed to go right through him. He could sense a sort of power that came off of her in waves. Lorne wanted to get her to sing for him, so he could find out who she was, but he figured she'd kill him if he did ask.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking Peachpie?" he asked her after a few minutes on the road.

She continued to look out the window. "Kadin," she answered finally.

"Pretty name. So, you've been in town long?"

"Here and there," she replied. Lorne figured she didn't want to say much so he just concentrated on the road ahead of him, heading for the Hyperion.

**Cut To:  
Int.  
Abandoned building, Los Angeles**

The room was dark and dank, a few rats skittering across the floor. Broken glass was everywhere, covering the floor and several shelves. It was evident that the building had a fire in it before it was left to sit. Once upon a time, a few years back, it was known as a club called Caritas, a safe haven for demons and humans to enjoy a few drinks and some music.

There was movement from the back room, and a figure emerged. The place was dark, so the figure moved in shadows. A small bit of moonlight shone from a hole in the roof. When the figure stepped near, it was clear it was human-like and female.

The figure stepped completely into the light, revealing herself…Darla.

**Fade Out  
**


	3. Chapter 3

The scene of the Grand View Memorial Park was quiet and dark, the way it was suppose to be. There are two male voices in the background, getting louder as they come nearer.

"Just pick one already!" the first male hissed. He was a tall, lanky kid of about seventeen. His brown hair hung slightly over his eyes as he looked to his friend.

The other kid, the same age, scanned the nearest headstones. "I'll pick one Jimmy if you'll just shut the hell up," he yelled.

Jimmy leaned on his shovel. "It's going to be light soon. We have to hurry Shawn."

"This one. It says she was 23 when she died. This one will be perfect for Master," Shawn said.

Jimmy looked at the gravestone. "Cordelia Chase," he read, and then scoffed. "What the hell kind of name is Cordelia?"

"Shut up and dig," Shawn ordered. Jimmy signed and picked up his shovel. Both boys began to dig.

After an hour, both had reached the coffin and stopped digging to rest.

"About time," Jimmy sighed, wiping his forehead.

Shawn threw his shovel up out of the hole and pulled back his sleeves. "All right, let's open it."

Jimmy stepped back a little while Shawn pulled open the lid to the casket. They expected to see a somewhat decayed woman, but instead, it looked as thought she was still alive. Her fair skin was unblemished and smooth and not a hair seemed out of place.

"What the hell? She was buried months ago," Shawn said. The two boys gawked at her, and then leaped up two feet in the air when she opened her eyes.

"Let's get out of here!" Jimmy yelled, and climbed out of the grave, Shawn following right behind him.

Cordelia blinked a couple times before sitting up. She looked around, blinked, and then looked down at her now dirt stained clothes. She frowned.

"Oh for crap's sake."

* * *

Angel sat at his desk in the office and thought about everything. Wesley was alive. Lindsey was alive. Fred was back somehow and alive. They had Willow's formerly dead girlfriend sitting in the lobby as well. As far as bizarre nights went, this was well past the ordinary. And now Buffy was on her way to his city again. To be honest, that was the thing most on his mind. He was excited to see her but at the same time, this wasn't going to be a social call either. They had to make sure the world didn't end. Maybe then after they would be able to chat.

He glanced out the picture window and watched the others in the lobby. Wesley and Gunn were sitting with Fred, both trying to comfort her. Spike was standing protectively over Tara, who still looked shaken up. He sighed, remembering what happened not twenty minutes before when Lindsey walked in. He had Lindsey killed because he didn't want him in the game anymore. The Powers did, so he was here. This only confused Angel more; the reasoning to why Lindsey was still alive didn't make sense to him. Lindsey made it clear long ago that he was never a player for the good side.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front doors opening and a calming voice ringing out into the lobby.

"Where's Angel?"

Cordelia. His mind went into a rush and as fast as he could, he stood up and hurried over to the office door. And there she was, Cordelia, looking the same as she did that last time he saw her at her funeral. He was flabbergasted and noted that all eyes were on him, looking to him for answers.

"Good, there you are Champ," Cordelia said, walking down the steps and hugging him. Angel just stood there, still in total shock, but it dissolved into joy as he fully realized his Cordy was here and alive.

"Cordy, it's really you," he said. Then as he broke away from the hug, he added, "How?" He had an idea how, but his mind didn't seem to be working before he spoke. Wesley stood up and walked over to Cordelia, hugging her.

Cordelia smiled, then looked over at Angel. "That's what I wanna know. I wake up, thirty minutes ago, in the freakin' cemetery! These two guys, kids really, were standing there with shovels and dumbstruck expressions. It was actually kinda funny. But I was pissed that they had to get all that dirt on me. I mean, look at my clothes!" she explained.

"So you think these two kids did something? A spell?" Gunn asked.

Spike lit a cigarette and shook his head. "Not bloody likely. You said two kids, yeah? No way in hell could two modern day teenagers do a resurrection spell. Besides, most resurrection spells done by the bleedin' amateurs produce zombie like folk. As you can tell, she's no zombie."

Angel looked over at Wesley. "Do you think it's the same thing that happened already? The Powers bringing people back?"

Wesley sighed. "It very well might be. Although, it does raise suspicion now. First Tara, then me, Lindsey, and Fred. Now Cordelia. If the Powers are doing this, it's safe to say there may be others. People we'll need to help fight whatever is coming.

"We didn't need Lindsey…" Angel muttered.

"So you're saying others might come back from being dead?" Gunn asked Wesley. "Like who?"

Wesley looked over at Angel, then back at Gunn. "I'm not sure. It looks as thought most of us are here."

Angel walked up to Wesley and looked him in the eye. "Darla. Could she return?"

"I'm not sure Angel. There's a possibility. But if she does, she could appear anywhere. It would be near impossible to find her ourselves. If she's out there, she'll find her way here," Wesley replied.

"All right, so what next? Sit around here waitin' for either a dead vamp or an army of death to come knockin' on the door?" Gunn asked. He still sat next to Fred.

"Don't matter, we can handle anything. Right now, its cowboy we need to deal with. I'm sure he'd love to come up here and kill us all. Actually," Spike said, putting out his cigarette on the floor, "It be Angel he's after. He's the one who screwed him over."

"Shut up Spike," Angel said, walking past the bleach haired vampire and over to the basement door. "Call me up if anyone else shows up."

"Will do," Cordelia replied. They heard the door slam shut and she sighed. "Nothing like an apocalypse to bring us all together."

* * *

Angel walked down the stairs and saw Lindsey standing in the cage. The look on Lindsey's face was well past angry and Angel understood with perfect clarity. "Are you calmer now?" he asked, knowing the answer he'd receive.

Lindsey smirked and wiped at the bloody nose he had. "I've been better."

"Good to hear it," Angel said. There was a moment of pause. "Do you know why I had you killed?"

"You're jealous?" Lindsey asked humorously.

Angel paced outside of the cage. "The only way I'd be jealous of you is if you got with one of my girls. Well you tried that once, didn't you?"

Lindsey smirked. "Well we both know how that turned out, don't we?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah. Typical Darla, leaving when things get good. I can relate, whether you want to believe it or not."

"This your idea of punishment? Talk me to death again?"

It was Angel's turn to smirk. "Worth a try. But look, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't want you here. I don't know why the Powers do, but I guess I can't do anything about it. So I need to make sure you're not going to pull any revenge crap on us. The Powers think you could help us in what ever is coming, so I need to know if you're you on board."

Lindsey chuckled. "After all you did to me, you want me to trust you now?" He walked up to the edge of the cage and looked Angel in the eye. "I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be, but here I am. I didn't ask the Powers for this. Truth, don't know why they brought me back. I don't work for them, never will."

"Glad we're on the same page so far," Angel said, crossing his arms.

Lindsey waited a minute, his face showing that he was thinking. Finally, he spoke again. "Whatever they need me for, I'll be here. Helping out the cavalry, kicking some ass, that's fine. I'll play for the white hats. But you need to get one thing straight. Once it's all over, once the dust settles, don't even drop your guard, because I'm going after you next. We're having our fight, once and for all. You hear me?"

Angel didn't so much as blink, but instead, leaned in a little closer to the cage bars and smirked. "You'll get your match, don't worry. The Powers won't need you anymore after it's all said and done, so they won't be bringing you back after I kill you myself," he told Lindsey.

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" Lindsey said, a smirk forming on his face as well.

Angel backed up a few steps, then turned and started walking back up the stairs.

* * *

The others were sitting in various spots in the lobby when Angel came back from the basement. He saw Spike trying to get Tara to stop trembling from the cold. Gunn was still sitting next to Fred, talking to her. He noticed Fred's eyes kept darting around at random, as if she was expecting something to come at her. Cordelia was pacing in the office, running her hands through her hair occasionally. And finally, he noticed Wesley standing at the hotel desk, trying to get a small portable TV to work.

"So, how'd it go with Lindsey?" Cordelia asked him, coming out of the office. Everyone else looked over to him for his answer.

"He's agreed to play nice for now. Until all this is over with," Angel replied, walking past her into the office, and leaned against the desk, rubbing his eyes. All this was making him twitchy. He wanted more than anything to be able to hit something. Cordelia noticed, because she closed the office door and walked to him.

"I know it's been a hard few weeks for you," she said.

Angel looked up at her. "Do you? I mean, you haven't exactly been around to see it."

At this, Cordelia crossed her arms, and put on her 'use your brain' look. "Yes, I know everything. Did you forget when I was a higher being, I had a first hand look into your life as Angelus? The Powers do grant favors, and mine was being able to see what had been going on since I…" She stopped, then looked down. "I saw it all, okay Angel?"

"Did you know the Powers were going to bring you back?" he asked. At her confused look, he added, "Tara said the Powers told her that everyone was needed, and then they sent her back. That's all she remembers though. I thought since they've given you top jobs before, they would have told you something too."

Cordelia shook her head. "No, nothing. Nothing I remember anyways. Maybe I need time and it'll come back to me."

Angel stared at her. "Lying was never one of your strong points Cordy," he told her.

Cordelia couldn't help but let a small smile play out on her face before letting out a sigh. "Look, I can't tell you. The Powers will make sure you know things when it's time. All you have to know is help is coming in several forms. Tara was right, something is coming. It's big enough to have the Powers breaking some rules and bringing back the powerful and best. That's all I can tell you Champ," she confessed, looking at him the entire time, not breaking eye contact, her face full of seriousness.

"You can't tell me?" Angel repeated, his anger rising. "Why the hell not Cordelia? We're in a jam; I need to know everything so I can get us through this. You want to help out, you need to help me first. Where are your loyalties right now? With the Powers or with me?"

Cordelia sat down in one of the chairs and sighed, then looked away. "I can't Angel. I have my orders. If I break them…lets just say I won't be one of their favorites anymore."

Angel tried not to get violent, and crossed his arms. "Then answer this for me. Is this permanent?"

"Is what permanent?"

"This," he pointed at her. "You. The others. You all won't disappear again after your missions are complete? Like you did the last time?"

Cordelia shrugged. "That I don't know."

"Why did you get orders, and people like Fred, Wes, and Lindsey have no idea why they came back?" Angel questioned.

"The Powers have foreseen this all happening long before tonight. Orders were given long time ago buddy. Why do you think I came back to Wolfram & Hart a few months ago? Yes, to put you back on track, but you didn't know where the track would lead. I did, and you did too, after that vision. That's why Tara knows too. She knew before me. I guess getting brought back just confused her a bit, but I'm sure if you asked her now, she'd tell you the same story."

The door opened suddenly. It was Gunn.

"You guys might wanna come see this," he said, pointing off to the side. All three of them walked out into the lobby and Gunn pointed to the TV. There was a news report on, although there was a bit of static. The antenna wasn't the best.

Everyone was shocked at the top story being investigated.

* * *

**_Three hours earlier_**

The crater that had formed a year ago that day was looking a lot better. It was still big, deep, and full of debris from the cave in, but the workers had worked for more than a year, moving out all sorts of items. Cars, pieces of homes, trees, and very rarely, a decayed body from someone who didn't make it out in time.

For a year now, Daniel Villas had seen a lot down here in the "Hole of Despair," as he and his fellow workers had called it. Today they had found and had a crane pull up several more cars, trees, and steel frames from buildings. They found parts of the sign from the Sun Cinema yesterday. So now it was coming up on 9 pm, about the time they got out of the pit and drove to their makeshift "town" of trailers and machine equipment.

Daniel put his shovel down and wiped his brow. He was getting used to the same routine and didn't think he'd ever be able to break it. He waved goodnight to his buddy Diego and walked over to get his water bottle.

They had just started finding bits of ruins from the second high school. Daniel had actually lived in Sunnydale for a couple years before the collapse. He was apart of the crew that had built the new school, so it saddened him to see the buildings, the crew and him had worked on, in tiny pieces. He was about to walk over to the elevator lift when he saw something on the dirt that caught his eye. Some light was slightly reflecting off of something, so he walked over and knelt down to examine what it was.

A fingernail.

Daniel moved the dirt with his hand and saw the nail was still attached to an actual finger, which was still part of an actual hand. A female hand. This surprised Daniel, because he could identify it was a female hand. The skin was unblemished and soft as his wife's, Claire, was.

"Steve!" he called to the night shift boss. "C'mere a sec! You won't believe this."

The big, burly man of about 35, walked over, a scowl on his face. "What is it Villas? Can't we worry about it tomorrow? It's time to pack up for the night," Steve replied.

"Come look at this," Daniel said again, pointing to the hand.

Steve looked and then nodded. "Another body. We'll deal with it tomorrow."

"But Steve," Daniel said. "Look at the skin. It's not even decayed!"

Steve knelt down and examined the hand. "Well I'll be dammed…that's the craziest thing I've ever seen."

Daniel put his fingertips at the wrist and his eyes widened. "Steve?"

"What is it kid?"

Daniel looked over at his boss. "There's a pulse."

Only instead of looking shocked, Steve scowled. "How stupid do you think I am? You can't pull any shit stories on me."

"I'm not kidding," Daniel said, then started to dig.

Reaching for the hand, Steve felt for a pulse and when he found one, he cursed and started digging too.

Four minutes later, they had the help of a few other guys and they managed to dig the entire body out. They all stood back.

"Someone wanna tell me how the hell this is possible?" One of the guys, Eric, asked.

"Luck? Miracle? Some kind of scientific crap?" Marty, another guy, answered.

"She's cute, I'll tell you that. You know, if you ignore all the dirt," Steve remarked, getting Eric to laugh.

"However the hell it happened, we need to at least get her to a hospital," Daniel told them.

Marty smirked. "Hey, do you think they'll put us on TV?"

"Help me carry her," Daniel said, reaching for her shoulders. Eric picked up her legs and the two guys followed by Steve and Marty, went over to the elevator lift and went back up to the surface.

* * *

_**Present time**_

All eyes in the hotel were on the TV screen as the local news station gave the report.

"Witnesses say that the body of the unidentified female, approximately 24 years of age, was found startlingly fresh. While doctors and scientists have no reasonable explanation for how this woman survived, both groups are calling it a great miracle. The woman, whose identity is being investigated at the moment, is currently at Los Angeles Regional Hospital. We'll have more on the story at a later time. For KTLA news, I'm Ted Garcia. Hal, Lynette, back to you."

Gunn turned off the TV and turned to the others. "Bizarre huh?"

"Sounds like another Powers bring back," Cordelia said, not looking too shocked.

"But who? Spike, you have an idea? None of us were there," Gunn asked, sitting back down.

Spike shook his head. "Don't bloody know. I was too busy dying to pay attention to that stuff. A few potentials died. Maybe it's one of them."

"Well, we better find out. If the Powers did send someone else to help, we need to know who," Cordelia told them. She looked over at Tara, who didn't need to nod to acknowledge her. None of the others seemed to notice.

"So what? You figure we go to the hospital and bring the poor bird back here?" Spike verified.

Angel nodded. "That's exactly what we need to do."

Gunn stood up from his seat next to Fred. "I'll drive. The car's outside, right Angel?" Angel nodded and tossed the keys to him.

"Good thinking. We'll stay here, incase someone else should show up. Or you know…appears out of thin air," Wesley said.

Gunn nodded and looked to Spike. "I'll get the car started up."

"You sure you can drive Gunn?" Cordelia asked him.

Gunn nodded. "I'm good." With that, he walked out through the front entrance.

Spike walked over to Tara and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey now, I have to go check on who this girl is. Stay here with the others, you'll be fine all right? Anyways soon enough Buffy should be here," he told her.

Tara looked at Spike, then looked down and nodded. Giving a quick nod of goodbye to the others, Spike left the lobby the same way as Gunn.

Angel turned over to Cordelia. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He nodded toward the office and walked inside. Cordelia followed him and closed the door again.

* * *

"Can't this plane go any faster?"

Willow looked up from her book to gaze at her friend. "Take it easy Buffy. We're soaring the sky at over 800 miles an hour." She looked at her watch. "And it's only been four hours. Got another eight to go."

Buffy looked to the right of her, where Dawn was sleeping against the window. "Yeah, I know. I'm just restless right now. Angel and the others could be in another battle and we're here stuck miles above ground."

"Things will be ok. Angel can handle things until we get there," Willow assured.

"How are you doing? I know there must be a million things going on in your head right now," Buffy asked.

Willow gave her a half smile. "Million and one things, but who's counting?"

"Did you call Kennedy?"

"You mean did I call her to tell her I'm on my way to Los Angeles to see my formerly deceased ex-girlfriend? Nope, haven't gotten to that yet." Willow shook her head slightly. "And anyway, I really don't need her consent. We're not…"

Buffy put her hand on Willow's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry Will. I didn't know. When?"

Willow shrugged it off. "Two weeks ago. She wanted to travel more and I wanted to stay in Rome. So she left and I stayed."

"Will, why didn't you say anything?"

"I just didn't think it was something you needed to worry about too. I mean, you've been so happy with the Immortal. I didn't want to dump some bad news on you like that," Willow explained. "I mean, you called him to tell him right?" When Buffy looked down, Willow asked again more sternly. "Right?"

Buffy sighed. "He and Angel have a bad history. He told me once when I mentioned that I knew Angel. I didn't want him to get mad and follow me to LA. It's bad enough I'm going to have two of my exes there, I don't need another guy there as well."

"Same reason I didn't have Kennedy come for backup. Could you imagine how awkward it would be for me with her and Tara there?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I see your point."

The two friends sighed simultaneously, thinking what awaited them in Los Angeles.

"Can't this plane go any faster?" Willow asked aloud, annoyed.

* * *

The most recent thing Darla could remember were the Powers That Be granting her request to help on Earth. Ever since they needed her help to try to stop Connor from helping Jasmine give birth to herself over a year ago, she had earned quite a lot of privileges from them. She had a lot to thank them for as well. They had allowed her soul, her essence, to stay up there in the higher planes.

So when she had found out what was happening with Angel and Wolfram & Hart, she begged the Powers to let her go down and help the others. They agreed, telling her that she was already going to be sent anyways. They explained to her what she needed to do. They also gave consent, under one circumstance; she had to go back in her vampiric body. That didn't bother her; she knew if she was going to be any help, she needed to have strength. As long as she had her soul, that's all that mattered to her.

Darla could sense the sun was coming in a matter of hours, so getting to the others was pivotal. She just needed to find them, and she had an idea where. With that goal in mind, she walked up the stairs and out into the Los Angeles night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just wanted to thank everyone who has read and most importantly, reviewed so far. I appreciate every single one of your comments and they've been fueling my muse to write more. I have one more chapter already done, but I'm going to post it maybe in a couple days, to spread things out. And to give me more time to write more chapters ahead of time.**

**To answer a question someone had, I will not be bringing back Doyle for this story. Not because it wouldn't be plausible, but in memory of Glenn Quinn. **

* * *

Gunn pulled up to the hospital and both he and Spike sighed. Dozens of reporters and spectators surrounded the two visible entrances. Nearly twice as many security guards and LAPD officers were doing their best to keep people out, while the noise of questions and camera flashes were drowning out the guard's voices.

"This is just perfect…not going to be an easy job getting in there, let alone be able to sneak out with the girl," Spike said, looking at the crowd through the car window. When Gunn didn't reply, he looked over to see Gunn unwrapping the bandages over his stomach wound. "What the bloody hell are you doing mate?"

Gunn winced and groaned as he tore the healing skin apart, and the bleeding rapidly started once again. "We need a serious reason to get inside right? Well this is the only option."

"So what's the plan? I mean after we get inside."

"It's probably best I get this taken care of. Once we get in, go find the girl. I'm sure you can take out the security. Sneak out, come back to the car and get back to the hotel. I can get back on my own," Gunn explained, holding his stomach wound with his arm. He handed Spike the car keys. Spike nodded, and the two both got out of the car and walked up to the ER entrance. Gunn's injury was getting worse.

"Coming through! Move it! Got someone hurt here!" Spike yelled, pushing his way through with Gunn's arm over his shoulder for support.

Reporters moved aside and looked as Gunn and Spike passed them. They made it inside and already there were several nurses and a doctor in the hall, having heard the news someone needed medical help. They helped Gunn inside and started asking Spike what happened.

"There was an accident. Uh…he was moving some equipment and fell. Just get him some help."

The doctor gave orders to the nurses. They led Gunn into the ER and another doctor started inspecting the wound.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Spike asked the doctor, watching as a couple nurses helped Gunn lay on a gurney.

"He'll be fine. We just need to stop the bleeding. And he'll definitely need stitches. Why don't you go fill out some paperwork for your friend while we help him?"

Spike nodded and followed a young nurse to the main desk. The nurse gave him papers, and he sat at a chair right next to where a security man was standing watch. Spike pretended to fill them out, while he listened to the man's radio.

"Fourth wing still clear?" the guard verified. The static-y voice back to him assured him that the entire 4th floor was clear. Spike put the clipboard down and started walking to the stairwell.

Once he got to the doorway for floor four, he carefully opened the door and peered out. There were a couple guards standing at the elevator. He had an idea and started breathing heavy, to appear winded. Coming into the hallway noisily, Spike ran towards both guards, both of which looked over at him, hands going for their guns.

"This section is off limits sir," one of them said.

Spike stopped and pointed to the stairwell entrance. "You have to come quick. Both of you. I was going downstairs, and this guy nicked my wallet. He's heading back upstairs, dunno know which floor."

The two guards rushed to the stairwell, one pulling out his gun and another radioing for backup. Once they left, Spike laughed to himself. Today's police force were a bunch of wankers in his opinion. He moved down the hall and saw two more guards stationed outside of a room. Charging, he took them by surprise and knocked them both out cold.

"Easier than saving the world," Spike mumbled, then after looking to see if anyone else was coming, he opened the door and closed it shut behind him. The sound of a heart monitor was beeping and he turned around. There were two beds in this room. The first one was empty and the closest to him. The second was hidden behind a curtain.

"Alright love, come to take you back. Hope you remember me. Damn potentials…well, I guess they all would be slayers now," he said aloud, pulling back the curtain. What he saw made him close his eyes and sigh. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

* * *

Wesley watched the woman next to him with great care. Fred was sitting next to him on the sofa, her eyes closed and her head in her hands. He tried to imagine what she was going through, but he honestly couldn't. She had died no less than 3 months ago in one of the most painful ways imaginable. And now she was back.

He wished he could destroy the Powers. If they knew they were going to bring back Fred, why did they let Illyria's resurrection even happen in the first place? The rules to the war between good and evil made little sense to him anymore.

"Fred? Do you need me to get you anything?" he asked her softly.

Not even looking at him, she shook her head. "No, I'm okay."

Wesley wanted to do something more to help her, but there was nothing. He stood up and sat over on the stairs, his mind spinning. Looking up, he saw Tara walk over and sit next to him. She bowed her head slightly, which caused her hair to hide her face from him.

"I know what you must be feeling right now. You don't know what is happening," she said.

"No, I do know what's happening, but I don't know the reason behind it. I guess I just haven't gotten used to the idea of us merely being pawns to the Powers That Be." He paused. "I know how you must be feeling."

Tara nodded. "Dying."

"Dying," Wesley echoed, nodding. "May I ask you something?"

Tara looked over at him, her eyes curious to what he would ask her. "Of course."

"Do you remember anything from…where you were?" he asked her, slowly. She looked down again, and he watched as she retreated back into her shell and become shy again.

"Only what I t-told Angel. Only that I'm here because I'm supposed to be."

Wesley nodded once and looked thoughtful. "So how do the Powers expect you to know what your mission is if they don't even tell you anything vital?" Tara didn't say anything, and Wesley sighed. "That sounds just like them, to give us barely anything to go on." He started to stand.

"Wait…" Tara said suddenly, looking up at him. Wesley stopped and sat back down, looking at her.

"Yes?"

"There's something. But I can't…I can't tell. I'm sorry. It has to happen on its own," Tara told him. He could trace a slight panic in her voice, like that of a child that doesn't want to get in trouble.

"All right. But there is one thing I want answered." He looked over at Fred. "Was she all right? I mean, was she…where you were?"

Tara looked to him, sadness in her eyes and nodded. "Yes, she was. When she first got there, she asked numerously if you were all right. If we could see."

Wesley looked at Tara again, confusion etched on his face. "What do you mean? She couldn't tell if I was?"

"No, she couldn't. That is a privilege in the higher dimension. It takes time to be earned by the spirit. Fred wasn't there long enough to earn it before…before this all happened." Wesley thought about that for a moment. "Wesley…please don't ask her about it. She had a hard time adjusting."

Wesley nodded and Tara stood up and walked away, leaving him with his thoughts.

* * *

Spike stared down at the form of Anya and a pain in the back of his head slowly started forming. "Leave it up to the Powers to bring this down on me…"

She wasn't awake; her soft breaths told Spike she was sleeping. He noticed something near her shoulder and pulled back a flap on her hospital gown. A scar, nearly faded, but the fluorescent light made it stand out more. Spike guessed it was a battle wound, and that's when it hit him that she was the one the Powers brought back, meaning she had died in Sunnydale.

"Bloody hell love, I didn't expect you. I only wish you hadn't kicked it. Wish I coulda known somehow, before. Woulda killed whatever hurt you real good." He put his hand on hers. "Well, time's running out. Gotta get gone before more guards come back." With that, he unplugged the heart monitor and took all the wires taped to her skin. With care, he took out the IV and looked back at the door, hearing voices down the hall. "Oh balls…"

The gasp he heard brought him out of his thought.

"Spike?"

He nodded. "Hey, there you are now. You a'right love?"

"What-" She stopped to cough. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"No time now love. We need to get you out of here, back to the hotel." And without letting her reply, he threw off his coat and handed it to her. "Put this on. Follow me."

She did as he said and walked with him back to the door, rubbing at the arm that had the IV in it. "Right…I remember now."

He turned around. "What?"

"Nothi- look out!"

Spike turned just in time to see the door was opening, and he pushed it closed again, holding his weight against it. "I need you to back up. I'm gonna open the door."

Once Anya was out of the way, Spike threw the door open and jammed his fist into the face of the first officer, who flew back several feet. A second officer used his gun to hit Spike on the jaw, which only made Spike let his vampire features show. This worked into scaring the other two and sent them running down the hall. The one on the floor took out his gun and fired a round at Spike. Now livid, Spike kicked the guy in the head, knocking him out. Changing his face back to human, Spike turned around, in a whole lot of pain. "Let's go! Only a matter of time before more come."

Together, the two exited the hall back into the stairwell and left out the emergency exit, ignoring the fire alarm that sounded. Spike reached the car and opened it. Once Anya was in as well, he sped out of the parking lot and back toward the hotel.

* * *

The front doors opened and everyone looked over to see who was coming in.

"Hello amigos. I'm back." Lorne and his new friend came into the hotel and he shut the door behind them.

"Lorne, you're all right?" Wesley said, standing.

"As alright as I can be. Where's Angelcakes?" the green empath demon asked.

"Here." Angel walked out of the office, Cordelia in tow. "Who's this?" he asked, nodding toward Kadin.

"This little amiga here saved my life an hour ago," Lorne replied. Kadin stayed silent, her arms crossed and glancing at the second level of the hotel.

"Saved you?" Angel asked. "What happened?"

"I was getting out of Dodge, like I said I would, and these demons attacked. Then she came and killed one. The others skedaddled. But I'm fine." Then as a side note he added, "You should see the car though."

Angel turned to look at Kadin, but before he could ask her anything, the doors opened once again. This time Angel nearly fell over when he saw who walked in. "Darla…"

Indeed, the 400-plus year old vampire walked in and stood there looking at him. "Angel."

"Looks like we have another now with us. I'm sure Spike and Gunn will be here any moment with the Sunnydale girl," Wesley said.

Darla walked over to Angel and grabbed his coat sleeve. "We need to talk." Angel put a hand on her arm.

"Hold on a minute. Darla, why did you come back as a vampire?" he asked her. No one noticed Kadin turn her head sharply toward Angel and Darla at these words.

"It was one of my conditions to come back. It doesn't matter anyways. I'm more use to you with strength," she replied. "Is everyone going to be here soon? I need to explain things as soon as possible and I'd rather only have to do it once."

"Darla, no!" Cordelia said firmly, but with no anger. "You know we can't."

It was Wesley's turn to chime in. "Cordelia, you know what's happening?"

"Darla, you have no right to say anything. It needs to play out," Cordelia said, ignoring Wesley. "Tara, tell her."

But the timid woman didn't say anything, only looked away.

Angel looked in between Cordelia and Darla, two women he loved. "Cordelia enough of these excuses. What is wrong with you? Why can't you tell us?" Angel demanded.

"Why doesn't one of you ladies sing for me? That way you don't have to tell us anything yourselves," Lorne suggested. No one paid him any attention.

"Don't look at me like that Angel. You know I would tell you if I could. We went over this already," Cordelia said, her voice softening.

"Tell me you have a better reason than that," Angel said.

"Because I might never be able to come back!" Cordelia spilled. The lobby was quiet and all eyes were on Cordelia.

Angel broke the silence. "What do you mean? You told me before that you didn't know if this was permanent."

Cordelia took a breath. "I lied. Angel, the Powers That Be are not a force to be messed with. Don't you think I want to tell you what is going on? But they knew I would, and so they gave me an order not to, or else they might make me go back up there in an instant, never to come back down to this plane ever again. This is a chance we've all been given to live again and if things go as planned, we can stay. All of us. Tara, Fred, Wes, Lindsey, even Darla," she explained, her voice pleading that he just cooperate.

"Lindsey's back?" Lorne asked nervously and rubbed his temple. "I need a Sea Breeze" Nobody paid much attention to him still.

"Alright, I understand. Darla...she's right." Angel turned to the others, looking exhausted. "Look, there's a lot going on right now. We don't need to be at each other's throats. More people are coming, probably some we don't even know about yet. Let's just…relax and prepare."

The doors opened again and everyone saw Gunn standing there looking at everyone else. "Am I missing a party here? Is the fight about to begin?"

"Gunn, good. Wait, where's Spike?" Angel asked, waiting to see if the door would reopen.

"We split up. Needed a reason to get into the hospital, past the guards and media." He pulled back his jacket and gestured to his new bandages over his torso. "So while I was getting fixed up, Spike went up to find the girl. Should be back anytime now. When I was waiting for a cab, overheard there was a blond guy who knocked out a bunch of guards."

"Well while we're waiting, how about we come up with a plan? You know, one that features our Big Kahuna killing the bad guys," Lorne piped in, chuckling nervously.

"What about Lindsey? Shouldn't we let him out? He is apart of this after all," Wesley asked.

Darla turned her head toward him. "Where is Lindsey? I need to speak with him," she said.

Angel felt a small shock of jealousy run through him, but shook it off. "He's downstairs locked in the cage. No telling if he'll actually cooperate. He's still looking for revenge," he added to Darla, moving away from the group and walked behind the front counter.

Cordelia, looking over at Darla still, walked over and sat on the couch next to Fred. "Why don't we start settling in? Maybe run a food slash blood run? Get some warm clothes. We might have to wait a while for the others to start coming in. Aren't Buffy and her gang arriving in 8 hours or something?"

Angel looked at his watch. "Probably more like 5. But she's right. We're in no shape to do any fighting right now. Spike will be back with the car any time now...hopefully. When he gets back, Gunn, you and Wes go for a food run. Stop by your guys' places and grab some weapons too, we're going to need them. In the meantime..." He looked to Kadin. "Why don't you explain to us who you are?"

Kadin just raised her eyebrows slightly in response and crossed her arms, leaning against the front counter. "Man, you people are seriously jacked. You're nuts, you do realize that? All of you," she replied. No one seemed to think she was joking and just stared back. "Damn, tough crowd. Fine, you wanna know who I am?"

"That, and why did you save Lorne? If you never met him before, then why save him and agree to follow him here? I'm sure there's something you're not telling us. Where did you come from?" Angel asked.

The others were suddenly very interested and watched Kadin with great interest. Darla was the only one who got up. She walked in the direction of the basement door, but not before giving Angel a look. Kadin's eyes narrowed a bit and followed her.

"I'm just going to talk to him," she said, and then disappeared around the corner.

Angel's mood resurfaced and he desperately tried to push back the urge to run down there and kill Lindsey himself. Instead, he looked back at Kadin and nodded for her to start talking.

The dark-haired woman smirked slightly and then jumped up and sat on the counter. "All right, here's the scoop. My name is Kadin. Twenty-two years of age, born and raised in here in LA. I rescued your green friend here because it's my job."

"Your job? What does that mean?" Wesley asked.

Kadin rolled her eyes. "Well if you'll let me finish a damn story, you'll find out." When satisfied that no one else was going to interrupt her, she continued. "Like I said, my job. I kill demons and vampires. I'm a slayer."

"You're a slayer?" Angel asked, not quite believing her story.

"Yeah, a slayer. You need me to slay something to believe me? Or do you need me to tell you I know you're a vampire?" she argued back, her voice steady, but challenging Angel at the same time. "You do have a rep here Angel. Vampire with a soul that saves the helpless... until that changed to vampire with a soul working for big, bad Wolfram & Hart." Kadin paused and looked at Angel with her deep eyes. A second later, she abandoned her gaze and looked down at the floor, her arms still crossed. "When I saved your friend tonight, I was on my way outta town. Things were getting bad, even for a slayer. I didn't quite feel like getting my ass handed to me by Hell's Army."

No one spoke for a minute; even Angel was lost in his own thoughts.

"How come none of us have ever seen you before?" Gunn asked.

"Correction man... I have seen some of you around before. I used to hang around Caritas back when it was around. Never sang myself, that's why your green friend doesn't know me. But I've seen some of you there. Like the time that gang of humans tore the place up. They were your gang, weren't they?" Kadin asked Gunn, who looked away.

"That's a nice little story, but how do we know you're telling us the truth? You could've been sent by the Senior Partners for all we know. They have plenty of _human_ liaisons in their employ," Cordelia questioned.

"She's not lying Cordy," Angel said, still looking at Kadin.

Wesley stood up. "Well I think this is perfect. We have more help in fighting whatever is coming. That is, of course, if you'd be willing to help."

Kadin shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. I could use a little workout anyway." She pulled a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket and nodded toward the back door. "I'll be outside, if anyone wants to interrogate me some more." Kadin walked over to the door and pulled it open, closing it a second later.

Fred suddenly stood up, her eyes still darting around. "I'm going upstairs to shower," she said quickly, then ran up the staircase without another word. Wesley looked up after her and followed, calling her name.

"Actually, girl has a point. A shower would be good right about now. I think I still have dirt in my hair," Cordelia said, looking in the direction of the stairs, but turned back to Angel. "That okay with you if I freshen up?"

Angel nodded and rubbed his head in response to the headache that was rapidly growing near the front of his head. "Yeah, go 'head. In fact, show Tara up to a room too. Wouldn't hurt for some of us to get some rest before others show up."

Cordelia nodded to Tara and the timid woman followed Cordelia upstairs, indeed looking like she could use some sleep.

"Gunn, watch our new friend there. She might be willing to help, but there's something about her that doesn't sit well with me. I'll be in the office if you need me," Angel said, walking toward the office.

"Sure thing," Gunn replied. He turned to look out the door's glass plates, watching as smoke rose in huge puffs from Kadin's cigarette.

* * *

**Chapter 5 coming soon! Reviews would make that time go SO much faster ;)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for getting this part out late. My internet hasn't been working well the last few days but luckily things are up and running now. Well, I won't keep you any longer. Here's chapter five for you!  
**

* * *

Lilah Morgan scoffed as she walked down a ruined hallway of Wolfram & Hart. Her heels made an echo of each step she took. The Partners sent her to scope out the scene, and she knew they wouldn't be pleased with the news she would bring back to them. The bright side though, at least there weren't masses of dead bodies like the last time. That was a plus.

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed. When the person on the other end answered, her expression changed and she tried to sound as sincere as she could.

"It's me. Yeah, the entire place is destroyed. No one around, dead or alive. Well, except Hamilton. Want me to arrange a clean up? Right, I'm on it. Just stay where you are. I'll call you when it starts. No need to waste energy teleporting all the way over here for nothing, right? Good, talk to you soon."

She closed the phone and sighed, before flipping it open again and dialing a different number.

Fred walked into one of the rooms of the hotel, except this one had once been the room she and Gunn shared a couple years ago. She went to walk to the bathroom when she heard someone come in behind her.

"Fred..." It was Wesley.

Fred didn't want to talk, so she didn't turn around to acknowledge him. "I just need a shower Wesley. I'll be down in a while."

Wesley walked closer to her, his expression soft and caring. "Fred, we need to talk. You haven't said two words to me all night. What's the matter?"

"I can't do this Wesley," Fred replied, her voice wavering. Still she didn't turn around.

"Do what? Fred, please just talk to me."

Finally, Fred turned. "This. You and I. I just can't. It's still too soon. Every time I look at you...I-I remember that night."

Wesley was very much confused. He knew the others had died, but none of them were talking it as hard as Fred was. All he wanted to do was help her. "Fred, did something happen…after you died?"

Fred shook her head so fast, Wesley was afraid she was going to hurt herself. He walked up to her, but she quickly took a few steps back. Now his patience was running thin.

"Fred...what's this about?" he asked, trying to keep from shouting.

But before he could get an answer, Fred rushed into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. All Wesley could do was look at the door, wishing he could make everything all right.

* * *

The front doors opened again and Spike strolled through, wincing with every step he took. Anya, wrapped in his duster, walked in beside him, looking around.

Gunn was sitting on the couch on the other side of the lobby and looked up when Spike entered. When he saw Anya with him, he frowned slightly.

"Good, you made it out of there. But who's this? I thought it was a slayer you were bringing back. She looks too old to be a young slayer," he said.

"Hey!" Anya shot back. Gunn just shrugged.

Spike shook his head, and then collapsed onto the couch. "Bleedin' guards shot me. Tell me there are some tweezers and cotton swab here? Maybe a bottle of Jack?" He moved a little and groaned. "Make that two bottles."

Gunn finally noticed the dozen holes in Spike's chest and winced. He stood up and went to get the first aid kit that was used earlier. "No Jack, but we're good on the cotton swabs."

Lorne walked over to Anya, obviously trying to read her. After a moment, Spike looked at the empath. "You read minds now?"

"I'm getting a vibe off her. Dunno what it is. Why don't you sing for me Peachpie? Let Lorne suss out what it is."

Anya just stared at Lorne, then looked at Spike as if to ask 'is he joking?' Spike just nodded and went back to his pain.

"I don't know what to sing," Anya finally replied to Lorne.

Lorne put a hand on her shoulder. "Doesn't matter sweetie. You can even hum if you want. But don't worry about sounding pretty...I had to listen to Cordelia sing. That was the worst I'll probably ever have to hear."

Right when the first note was about to come out of Anya's mouth, Cordelia cleared her throat loudly. They all looked up to the second floor balcony to see her standing against the edge.

"Nice try Lorne. Anya, you should know better. Remember the orders," Cordelia said. "Oh and Lorne? I heard that part about me singing. You're gonna pay for that Mister."

"But she had a vibe Cordy! Like nothing I have ever felt before," Lorne tried to reason.

Cordelia didn't say anything more, just smiled and continued towel drying her hair. The clothes she was wearing were new, but they looked like they had been folded inside of a box.

Gunn held up the first aid box. "Hey Cordy, wanna come take bullets out of Spike? You used to love to do it for Angel. I'm afraid I don't have a woman's touch," he joked.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "I used to do it for Angel because I secretly liked to see him half naked. I dunno if Spike will have that same effect," she said humorously.

Spike frowned. "Not making me feel any better Cordelia."

Cordelia smiled and walked downstairs, taking the box from Gunn and going to sit next to Spike. "Come on Blondie. Take the shirt off."

Spike complied, with several groans of pain. Cordelia then got to work on bullet removing.

Angel walked out of the office, looking less headache-y and more focused. "It was never a secret Cordy."

Cordelia let out a little laugh and then pulled out a second bullet from Spike, who groaned again.

Angel looked over at Anya, and nodded. "Was expecting a slayer, but good that you made it back. The Powers must have a good reason for wanting you here, which means you're welcome with open arms." He smiled.

"So what's your story then if you're not a slayer?" Gunn asked her.

Spike spoke up, "Used to be an all powerful vengeance demon. 'Til she became human and officially became one of the Scoobies."

"Scoobies?" Cordelia asked. "Buffy still calls her little gang that? How very high school of her."

"So you're just human then?" Gunn asked.

"Yeah, I am," Anya replied, sounding somewhat diminished, and sat down on the other side of Spike.

Spike put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't sound so glum about it love. You have a wide knowledge of demons in that pretty head of yours." He turned to look at Gunn. "Really helpful for when Giles' books said diddly."

"Cordelia, when you're done, why don't you get her some of your old clothes," Angel said. Cordelia nodded.

The door to the basement door opened and all eyes looked as Darla stepped out from the door, followed by Lindsey.

"Darla! What did you do?" Angel growled.

Lindsey wore a smug look. "She was kind enough to let me out. But don't worry champ. I won't ruin your little tea party."

Darla walked up to Angel before he could lunge to beat Lindsey down. "Angel, we don't have time for this. I talked to him and he is on our side for this. There's no time for games."

The doors opened once again and this time, the person who stood at them was Connor, looking confused, relieved, and exhausted all at the same time. Angel's face softened immediately. "Connor...you're okay. Uh, come in," he told his son, waving him in. Darla stood there as well, looking proud, yet sad at the same time.

Connor walked in, looking at everyone. When he saw Darla, his expression changed and he blinked. "Mom?"

Darla nodded and walked over to him, wrapping him in a hug. "My darling boy, look at you,"

Connor flinched ever so slightly at the coldness of Darla's skin, but he relaxed and hugged her back. After she let go of him, he turned to the others, stopping to look directly at Cordelia.

"I'm sorry Connor. The last time we spoke, I wasn't exactly myself. I'm sorry though, for what Jasmine put you through," Cordelia said.

Connor just nodded and gave her a smile, accepting her apology. "It's fine." Turning back to Angel, he added, "Glad you made it out of there alright Dad,"

"I'm just relieved you're okay. I had hoped you wouldn't run into trouble on your way out of the building. You didn't, right?" Angel replied. Connor shook his head. "Well then. Uh, you know everyone else. Gunn, Lorne, Cordy, Spike. This over here is Anya. One of the good guys too. Then there's Lindsey over there." After a minute, he looked at Gunn and Lorne. "Wait, how did you guys remember Connor was my son? You weren't near when Wes smashed that box thing that Vail created."

"Wes filled us in later that week," Gunn replied.

Connor nodded. "So is it all over then?"

"Not even close kiddo. One battle hardly is ever enough for the forces of evil. We're expecting the aftershock anytime now," Lorne said.

"Do your parents know you're here?" Angel asked.

Connor shook his head. "They think I'm on campus. I don't usually see them until school breaks anyway. But I'm here. You know… if you need any help."

"I don't think that's a good idea. If something should happen to you..." Angel started to say, but Darla cut him off.

"He can handle himself. Let him help if he wants to."

Angel sighed, but nodded. "I guess she's right. Once we have a plan, we'll let you know all right? Just for now, make yourself at home." His brow furrowed. "Wait...Gunn? Where's Kadin?"

Gunn stood up and looked back outside but didn't see her there. "She was just there."

Angel went to go open the back doors but stopped when the slayer walked back inside.

"Sorry, I was off to the side of the garden," she said, then stopped moving when she looked in the direction of the couch. Her expression turned downright icy and she gripped her fists tight.

Spike looked over at Kadin. "Who's this now? Friend of yours, Angel?"

"Slayer. She saved Lorne's life earlier tonight." Angel replied, and then looked at Kadin. "This is Spike. He's a--"

"Vampire." Kadin finished. She then smirked and swore in Spanish. "Yeah, I know who he is."

"How do you know Spike?" Angel asked her.

Kadin turned to Angel and glared, her hand immediately going for a stake in her jacket pocket. "The son of a bitch murdered my parents eighteen years ago."

* * *

Angel had to use his speed to stop Kadin from reaching Spike. Spike jumped up and tried to back away from the slayer. Kadin had already started to lunge at the bleach-haired vampire and Angel had to knock the stake out of her hand, which wasn't easy. She nearly staked him in the process, but Gunn and Connor were right at Angel's side in a flash. Connor used all his strength to hold Kadin back.

"Let me go!" Kadin yelled, struggling to get away from Connor and try her attack on Spike again. "He needs die!"

"No! Spike isn't bad! He did a lot of bad stuff in his past, so did I, but it's past. He's changed, he has a soul like I do," Angel tried to explain. "Killing Spike isn't going to bring you any peace. Believe me, I know."

Kadin stopped struggling, but still glared at Spike. "Fine," she spat. "He lives for now." She walked over and picked up the fallen stake, securing it in the waist of her jeans. With that, Kadin walked back outside, lighting up another cigarette in the process.

Cordelia tried to pull Spike down on the couch. "Will you sit already? If you want these bullets out before your wounds heal, then I suggest you let me take them out now."

Spike obeyed, all while keeping a close eye on Kadin incase she decided revenge was a better choice.

* * *

The camera pans along the wreckage of a ruined hallway. We hear the clicking of heels and the camera moves up to show Lilah Morgan walking down the hallway with her arms crossed. There's a sound coming from behind her and Lilah turns around sharply. Her eyes scan the hall quickly before turning back around. When she does, she's startled by a dark form at the end of the hallway. The lights are almost non-existent, so she has to squint to make out the person standing there. When she realizes who it is, she calms down.

"Oh, you scared me for a minute there. I told you I'd call you when it was time to teleport here," she told the figure, crossing her arms again. "Did something happen? Did the plan change?"

"No. I just got tired of waiting." The figure stepped from the shadows and revealed himself to be Caleb! Lilah moved closer, a manila envelope in her hands as she took out a few sheets of paper.

"I have intel that Angel has contacted the Slayer and she's on her way to Los Angeles," Lilah told the faux-priest.

Caleb seemed to think about that for a moment before letting a sinister grin reach his lips. He took the white priest collar off and let it fall from his hand to the floor. "Tell me where she's going," he demanded.

* * *

**I just wanted to add a 'thank you' to everyone who has reviewed thus far. Your kind comments have been very inspiring and a warm welcome back into the world of fanfiction. Thanks so much!  
**


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